For those of you that have moved from a Sharknose or Batwing to a Road King did you regret it? Love it? Hate it? Did you miss the tunes? fairing? etc. or did the Road King make you forget all those creature comforts? Just looking for some feedback.

Thanks.

 

well if it were me I'd go rent or test ride a king and see
for myself, other than that I don't guess that I can help.
I tried to Build a middle aged mans bike so I started with
an 07 RKC and you can see what i wound up with. By the
way why do you ask are you thinking about a road king,
just wondering?

 

I cant imagine going back to a fairingless bike without all of the creature comforts. I am spoiled now, and wont ever go back. But to each his own. Like suggested, rent one for a few days and ride the pi*s out of it. If you like it, and decide to buy one, most dealers that do rentals will take the renal fees off of your purchase. If you have a good relationship with your dealer, they may even let you try one out for a weekend for free.

 

Not really much help, as I went the other direction - from a King to a Glide.
I can say that the Road King is a terrific scoot. I do miss mine at times.

 

Im considering a second bike. You can just about buy a Road King for what a Softail (w/ABS) would cost these days. For some reason the more classic looking bikes appeal to me much more than they used to. Just curious if I would find myself happier with the King than the RG. Couple of my friends have a King and I have ridden them around the East Tennessee hills. They are more nimble and easier to run through the twisties.......at least for me they are. But, i have never put a King to work on the interstate for several hundred miles and lived out of it for a few days. Just looking for some experiences.

 

I did it. Had a road king.. bought a street glide.. Then went back to a road king.. I don't like the fairing.. I didn't like the wind buffeting, and I didn't like the way the bike looked with a big windshield.. For some reason I don't mind the windshield on the RK, and I also liked the ability to take it off. I don't know something just always seemed "perfect" about the RK to me.. The SG was very cool, but that's just it.. It had more cool factor than some of the other things that were important to me, like no buffeting, and the ability to get a fresh blast of clean air when I wanted it. Just my 2 cents.

 

I went that way just recently and I have to say it is an easier bike to handle. I have a Memphis Shades Batwing I will get for the cooler days of autumn and springs. The MS Batwing is not expensive and is an easy on and off and I love that. My tunes are now going to be handled by the CYCLE SOUNDS 3" 200 watt handlebar mounted speakers and they are POWERFULL and sound GREAT!
I do like the way it handles and the weight difference and BEST of all is that it can change from a stripped down cruiser with the wind in your face to a Full Tourer (with a set of 940 Progressives Shocks in back it has a great ride )
Come On can you ask for anything more?? It's the most Versitile and best all around bike in HD line-Up !!

 

I went back to a RK after having my 08' SG for 2 years. I had 2 RK's before the SG and just did not like the SG. I also have owned 2 classic's before but always go back to the RK. I have been across the country on both and the RK does it all. I went on a 7500 mi trip last year with the SG bringing along my book of cd's and only played it a couple times. The "cool factor" of the SG gets lost after having to make changes for the wind buffeting, fairing wings, fork baffle, taller shield and changing the shocks because it's like riding a log. The SG is not a good touring bike in my opinion. I guess I am just a RK rider with no regrets.

 

I have both. Each bike provides a different experience when ridden.

 

When I bought my first HD, I wanted to stay as far away from an "old man's bike" as possible, so I bought a Softail Rocker C. I love the bike, and have taken a few 1000 mile trips on it, but it is FAR from being a touring bike of any stretch of the imagination.

Later that year, I found an old Road King for sale that was too cheap to pass up. I found that windshields and saddlebags, along with a good suspension and comfy seat definitely have a place in this "young" man's heart.

6 months later, I bought an '09 Street Glide......and I absolutely LOVE this bike. I average about 10,000 miles a year on this one, and love the stereo....but the shocks leave much to be desired, and the windshield was the first thing to go....replaced with a 6" Klockworks flare......but I never lost any love for my Road King....

....and so, Fast forward 2 years, and I just picked up a used '09 Road King Classic for a decent price. I miss my hard bags, but there's just something about the nostalgic look that does it for me. I feel more connected with the highway on the King than I do on my glide....maybe it's less distraction....maybe it's something else, I don't know.

But they both definitely have their pros and cons, just like mattman22033 says....

So if you can swing it, do like I did.....have both! :-D